Rescue
by Foxbear
Summary: Outnumbered and alone, an Autobot war unit lands on an uninhabited planet looking for a chance to even the odds. What they find there is far more dangerous than they could have imagined, and far more powerful than they ever dared hope. T for violence
1. Trap

Rescue 1

Sort of a Transformers Movieverse FanFiction

Dark shadows stretched from one abandoned structure to the next. The dim light cast by the system's red giant highlighted ancient stone ruins surrounding the open space where the red and white Cybertronian sat slumped against a crumbling wall.

Now he was seeing things. Wonderful. Drift took a firmer grip on his short sword and tried to steady his thoughts. The flickering movements on the edges of his vision had been plaguing him for cycles now. Now they were either taking more solid forms, or something was stalking him. Not that being hunted was anything new to the battle hardened warrior. The moment he had donned the Autobot symbol he had painted a target on himself. More Decpticons wanted him dead that any other bot except Optimus himself, and for now that worked in favor of his unit. These shadows were different somehow though.

They had appeared about a mega-click ago, staying close to sturdy cover, dodging from shadow to shadow, and generally acting suspicious. Every bit of training in the warrior's programming demanded swift action, bur Drift had learned long ago to trust in his instincts, and he just got the feeling that the flickering creatures were no threat. He slid his weapon into a more comfortable position and shifted his weight a silently as he could. Even if these newcomers posed no threat, the same could not be said of the Decpticons hunting him and his unit.

A tearing pain in his left knee servo demanded his attention. He ignored it and flashed a quick signal towards Kup with the reflective edge of his sword. The old soldier responded in kind and began to execute the attack plan. Drift slumped back against the wall and tried to look as helpless as possible. It was no easy task for the bot. One servo was damaged beyond easy repair and leaking energon into the sands below, his once white body plating was scratched and battered so badly he had turned a dull grey, but his optics still shone with a warrior's spirit, only a great fool would approach such a figure causally.

Drift heard a soft click directly in front of him. It was far too small to be the hunter he was supposed to be the bait for so he tried to ignore it. However that soon became impossible. Whatever it was it was approaching him. Fighting back the blurry feeling the virus had made all too familiar the bot cracked open an optic and looked down at the creature now standing at his side. At first he thought he was looking at a tiny floating head. But as he focused he realized that the lower part of its body was being obscured by a cloaking device. That explained the mysterious shadows, good to know his CPU wasn't going just yet, but it didn't explain the look on the creature's face.

The small being, an organic Drift realized, looked up at the bot with a mixture of compassion, worry, and scientific interest that reminded the bot powerfully of Ratchet, the Autobot medic he hadn't seen in megacycles. The creature let out a series of small high pitched noises. "As if it expects me to understand it," Drift mused, wishing again that the virus hadn't taken out his translation abilities. Suddenly the rest of the organic's body came into view. Despite being smaller than most minicons, it looked remarkably like a Cybertronian protoform; bipedal, five manipulators on each terminal servo, and four primary limbs. The creature's chest plate curved out over a slim waist. What organic surfaces its armor exposed were a smooth tan. A few gold filaments of fiber escaped out from under its helmet. But most startling was the expressiveness of the creatures face. Two blue visual sensors stared intently up into his own gold optics. Drift reminded himself that he shouldn't read Cybertronian emotions into an alien face, but the little one beside him seemed to be radiating compassion and worry.

A quick flash from Kup's position signaled that the rest of the Autobots were ready. The trap was set. The signal broke through the fog in Drift's CPU. With a start he tried to push the little organic away. When they had chosen this planet to deal with the Decpticons following their damaged ship they had deliberately chosen what they thought to be a lifeless world. These creatures must have been hiding well below ground when they scanned the rock, or they had arrived since. Either way they had no part in the Cybertronians' war. Drift attempted to herd the creature back toward the cover offered by the rocks with his free servo. He scowled down at it hoping to scare it off. If he could read its emotions, perhaps it could detect hostility in the Autobot's face. Things didn't go quite as planned.

Another tearing pain ripped through Drifts left stabilization servo. He fought against the blackness that followed the pain. When his vision cleared the organic wasn't by his side. He leaned back with a feeling of relief. One less thing to worry about. The feeling was however, short lived. From the rocks slipped two more of the small, cloaked organics. Drift frowned; these were carrying what were obviously weapons. A scratching feeling near his injury drew his attention. The first organic was climbing easily up his armor. It knelt over his injury and began to produce what appeared to be medical devices out of a carrying case on its back. More of its fellows were slipping out from the surrounding rocks. Drift counted at least thirty. All of them were armed. The Autobot began to feel slightly uneasy. They're weapons were small, but in these numbers they might be dangerous. However, they showed no hostile intentions.

One of them seemed to be in charge. Drift watched it signaling the rest of the organics. This one was larger and darker than the first and its chestplate didn't display the same curves. In a few clicks it had dispersed the rest into what was obviously a protective perimeter around the wounded warrior. The first organic was busily inspecting the open wound on the Autobot's knee servo. It selected one of its devices, and before Drift could remove the creature, activated it. Drift felt a painful tingle run across his servo then it went blissfully numb. He paused with his hand held over the organic about to remove it. The creature was smiling up at him. It patted his uninjured surface reassuringly and selected another device. Whoever these were, they wanted to help.

The commander joined the medic, or so Drift guessed were their positions, on the Autobot's leg. They conferred for a moment. Then the commander looked directly into Drift's optics and said something. The Autobot couldn't understand what was said, but the tone of the creature's voice and the expression on its face reminded the bot of the last time he had spoken to Prime. The Autobot leader had looked at him with just such a compassionate but tired smile and assured him the battle would soon turn in their favor. It had. Drift shook off the memory and wondered what could possible remind him of Optimus in the organic's fleshy features. The commander waved two more organics up and then jumped down himself. Along with the medic the two newcomers began busily working up a patch job on his damaged servo. The rest of the creatures reactivated their cloaks, becoming shadows once again.


	2. Allies?

Rescue 2

Sort of a Transformers Movie-verse Fanfic.

"Fools." Drift snapped his attention up to the figure crouched across the open space on a crumbling structure. The small sleek quadruped leered smugly at the Autobot.

"Why waste good energon on a dead traitor?" Drift swiped at the Decpticon with his sword. The con easily dodged the blow and leapt out of sight into the ruins.

"Always making friends, always saddling yourselves with useless organic trash, this is why you'll die here traitor!" taunted the voice from the shadows. The spy would immediately report his position back to his master. That was what the Autobots' plan had called for, but now Drift frowned. The organics complicated things. They didn't seem to be inclined to leave. Now there was no way to contact Kup and call off the ambush without immediately giving away their position and calling down dozens of Decpticons on top of them.

"Unggghh!" The Autobot glanced quickly down at the medics still working on his leg. The small grunt of pain had come from one of the two newcomers. Its arm was caught in one of the many moving parts exposed by Drift's wound. Thick red internal fluid dripped down to mingle with the energon in the sand below. Drift gently reached down and manually separated the articulators pinning the organic's limb. Its companion swiftly moved to treat the new injury as two more of the creatures leapt up to assist the lead medic who was still working on the Autobot.

"Scrap, I wish I had time to watch what you're doing to me more closely," Drift muttered, "Or ask why, for that matter." The medic seemed to know its stuff. It was quickly welding articulators back together, sealing ruptured vessels, and applying emergency energon patches to the repaired areas. "Now why would organics carry Cybertronian medical energon?" Drift asked. But even if the creatures could have answered Drift couldn't have paid attention. Deadfire was approaching.

Drift could hear the con's footsteps getting closer. Deadfire was coming slowly, more causally than cautiously. He was sure of his prey. Drift attempted to remove the organics from his leg and chase them off. But the medic seemed determined to finish what it had started. Every time the Autobot set it on the ground it immediately clambered back onto the damaged joint. Finally Drift gave up and drew his other sword. He fixed his attention on the aperture he knew Deadfire was going to come through and prepared to wait.

Suddenly there was a flurry of shadowy ripples across the open space he was in. Sand and dust flew as the ground itself seemed to rearrange itself. The organics appeared to be reacting to Deadfire's approach. Not by retreating as Drift had hoped, but by digging themselves in. Just before the con strolled around the corner the three remaining medics scampered behind Drift's back. Did they expect him to protect them?

"Well, traitor. It looks like it's my lucky day. I get the honor of taking you offline and presenting your head to Megatron myself. " The blood red con paused at the edge of the open space to gloat. Sharp angles and harsh lines defined his massive body. His optics glowed as if to compete with the planet's star. The last rays of the red giant played over his armor as it set, creating a terrifying image, a demon from the underworld.

"Haven't you heard?" asked Drift. "Megatron is dead. Optimus took him offline." The con threw back his head a laughed.

"Rumors, traitor, the same rumors that you cowards have been spreading for cycles. Megatron would never fall to your pathetic Prime."

"Where are your little friends?" sneered Deadfire. "After eviscerating you I could use some light entertainment to calm me down." Drift smirked up at the con. He tossed one of his blades causally up in the air and caught it again. The little organics shifted under him. He willed them to stay still. If all went as planned they could well get out of this online. He grinned back at the Decpticon warrior as he pulled himself up on one knee. Whatever painkiller the organics had used seemed to still be in effect and he silently thanked the medic. There was a weak spot in the con's armor, behind the left knee joint, if he could strike there it would greatly even the odds.

"Why hesitate Deadfire? Afraid of one injured bot?" Drift taunted. The con grinned widely.

"Of you? Never. But don't you wonder where the rest of your unit is? Or," Deadfire gestured causally towards the bot's sword, "do you want to signal them again?" Drift's spark lurched in its chamber. They knew the plan. He had signaled Kup and the others straight into an ambush. He franticly tried to radio a warning but the virus sent a wave of pain through his circuits at the effort. The con must have seen his sudden pain. He let out a pleased chuckle.

"So, that little present we left you on the last planet is still messing with your circuits. Would you like to see what else it can do?" The con lifted a device and pointed it at Drift. Before the Autobot could react his body was wracked with unbelievable pain. He fell backwards, barely managing to catch himself before crushing the organics below. The con strolled forward and pulled out a small jagged blade.

"Now, where do I start? Optics or digits first?" he mused to himself. "You see it's so hard to choose from all the options on a helpless…" The Decpticon's voice trailed off. Drift forced his optics open to see what had distracted the con. The commander of the organics was standing on his chestplate letting out a stream of agitated noise at the con. Deadfire let out another laugh.

"You don't say? Isn't that touching." The organic let out another volley of sound. Obviously there was nothing wrong with the Decpticon's translation program. He crouched down and reached for the small creature.

"What a brave spark you have little one," Deadfire purred. "Why don't we cut you open and show it to your new friend?" Drift tried to knock away the con's grasping servos but his limbs moved far too slowly.


	3. A Ship

Rescue 3

Sort of a Transformers Movieverse fanfic

Suddenly another organic sprang up and flung itself across Drift's optics. The Autobot heard an explosion and the Decpticon roared in agony. The organic sprang off of his optics and immediately joined the medic who was again working on his injury. Deadfire was staggering backwards grasping at his optics. Another organic ran out from under Drift and lashed out at the Decpticon with a long thin cord. It struck the backside of the cons left knee joint, there was a crackle of energy, and Deadfire crashed down on all fours. The commander leapt forward and opened fire on the Decpticon's face. Two organics fired grapples at the back of the con's head and zipped up the lines. While he was distracted by the commander's fire the others shoved a large wad of something into his neck joint. Something explosive, Drift realized, as soon as the two on the con's neck had leapt free the commander hit a trigger. There was a blinding flash and Deadfire's body crashed to the sand. His head bounced and rolled some distance away.

Drift looked down at the diminutive creatures with a new respect. How they knew about Deadfire's weakness was a mystery. But it was clear they had experience fighting Decpticons, and equally clear they assumed Autobots to be allies. A handful staggered up assisting the two who had planted the charge. Their cloaks had been damaged and in places revealed their small, bipedal bodies beneath several layers of protective coverings. Drift reached out a servo and gently touched one of the injured. It responded with a smile and placed one delicate hand as firmly as it could on the proffered digit. It seemed to be reassuring him that the damage was of no consequence.

Drift felt a slight twinge from his own damaged joint. He turned his attention to the small pack of organics who were now welding on a thin, flexible patch over the newly repaired area. The medic scampered around the joint one more time, and then pulled out the numbing device again. It aimed at Drifts servo and activated the device. Pain rippled through the repaired systems again, but it was the even pain of healing. Six more of the little creature trotted up with a long sturdy piece of scrap they had gathered from somewhere in the ruins. The medic leapt off of his leg and joined the other organics in a circle around him. The six carrying the metal rod proffered it up to him. The rest looked on expectantly.

The Autobot gingerly attempted to stand. He got up on his one good knee, and reached out to grasp the rod. He used it to lever himself upright on both legs. He leaned on the support of the scrap of metal for a moment then took one cautious step. There was still a little pain in the joint but it was fading. The medic clearly knew how to treat a Cybertronian. He looked down into the expectant faces below him and smiled. They burst into a subdued cheer and ran around thumping and bumping into each other in joy. Drift knelt and reached out cautiously to the only one not indulging in the celebration, the one whose arm had been injured attempting to assist him. Drift could read pain in the little creatures face, but it smiled up at him and gamely gave the gesture that the Autobot was coming to recognize as a sign of comfort among them.

A rumble of falling rocks came from across the way. Drift stood and drew a sword. The little organics immediately responded to his move and triggered their cloaks. The injured were hustled behind the rocky outcroppings while the rest faded into the shadows cast by two moons. To the Autobot's immense relief a familiar figure rounded the corner in a crouching run. Drift sheathed his sword and made what he hoped was a clear sign of welcome for the sake of his new allies. The battered green warrior stopped dead and stared around the open space in quiet surprise. His optics traced over Deadfire's body, his head laying across the way, Drift standing strong on a repaired joint, and the signs of battle scattered over the sand.

"What," growled the old soldier, "in the name of Primus is going on here? We leave you here as bait, get ambushed ourselves, fight off a pack o' cons, and come back to rescue you, only to find you're not only online but in better shape than we left you and have taken out the mark all by yourself." During this surly tirade a half a dozen other Autobots had come and taken up positions around the two bots. Drift smiled and said,

"Not me. They, took out Deadfire." He gestured toward where he thought the commander was in the shadows. Kup followed his indication and looked at him quizzically when nothing emerged. Drift could see the questions forming in the old soldier's eyes. But before he could explain they heard the now familiar chirping noise from just below. Kup glanced down and let out a low string of curses. The commander of the organics had seemed to materialize right at his feet. He swung his gun down and aimed it at the diminutive creature, who stared up defiantly at him. Drift placed a restraining hand on the old bots shoulder.

"You mean to tell me," Kup snarled, "that scrap of an organic protoform, took out one of the most feared Decpticon leaders in the fleet?"

"That, and his friends," Drift replied with a smile, "and to top it off, their medic fixed up my leg while they were at it." Kup had knelt down to examine the organic closer. The little one seemed utterly fearless in the big bot's presence and began to produce a stream of chatter. The old soldier let out a grunt and stood erect.

"Any chance we can get a translation on what they're saying? I'd really like to know where they learned to fight con's and heal bots." Drift shook his head in reply.

"Whatever that virus did to us is still in effect. Before they blew his head off though, Deadfire did confirm that the virus was deliberately dispersed on us, and it can be remotely activated." Drift winced at the remembered pain and proceeded to describe the engagement to the Autobot commander. While Kup listened the rest of the organics slipped out of the shadows. A few kept up a defensive perimeter, only visible as the shimmers outlined occasionally against the starry sky. The rest moved fearlessly up to the Autobots and began chattering away at them. Clearly they were expecting the bots to understand them eventually. Finally Kup stomped one massive foot. Autobots and organics turned their attention toward the old soldier. He gestured at the fallen Decpticon.

"Even if their leader is offline the cons still outnumber us on this rock. Our ship is completely destroyed. This scrapping virus has left us without the ability to radio even short distances, and eliminated our ability to translate other languages. Half of us are injured, the other half are low on energon. If any of you bots has a suggestion of a plan I'm listening." Springer stepped forward and stated,

"The cons have a functioning ship that's full of medical supplies, energon, and everything we need to get Preceptor back on his feet. I say we storm their ship before they get the bright idea to leave us here to rust." Kup nodded.

"Solid idea Springer, but they still outnumber and outgun us. We'll call that plan "B" for now. Drift? Drift!" Kup snapped at the warrior who was staring intently at the organics' medic.

"I think they understand us," the red and white Autobot murmured.

"What?" demanded Kup.

"Their medic at least was following the conversation. I'm certain of it," Drift stated firmly. "We might not be able to understand them but they can understand us." Kup frowned and crouched down in front of the organic medic and growled as gently as the old soldier could,

"Hey organic, nod your head if you understand me." The little creature bobbed its head up and down eagerly. Kup grunted in surprise.

"Well, how about that. Don't see how that helps us though." The organic commander suddenly became agitated. It pointed off to the east eagerly.

"What's East?" Kup demanded. The creature reached down and sketched a small diagram in the sand. Drift flicked on a hand light and aimed it at the sketch.

"A ship," Kup muttered. "Cybertronian, looks Decpticon, but they put our badge on it, and it looks damaged." He glanced intently at the cluster of organics at his feet then up at Drift.

"Can they be trusted?" In reply Drift gestured to the cooling body of Deadfire in the moonlight and then at his own repaired limb.

"I think their actions speak for themselves."

Kup nodded slowly and addressed his troops. "The cons won't be going anywhere in a hurry with Deadfire offline. The usual infighting while they choose a new leader will keep them on this planet for at least a few cycles. We'll use that time to see if this new ship is any good. Springer, Topspin. You go back to our camp. Get Preceptor and Blurr and rendezvous with us at that clearing Blurr scouted about a quarter-cycle Northeast of here. Hot Rod, take point, keep your optics peeled for traps." Kup cast a wary glance at the diminutive organic at his feet, "Remember, they might be real small. Twintwist, you have rearguard. Prowl and Piston, flanks." Each Autobot slipped off to their assigned task. Drift and Kup watched as the organics' commander relayed a similar set of orders to its troops, who then set off northeast.


	4. Together

Rescue 4

Sort of a Transformers Movieverse Fanfic

The creatures were difficult to follow. Even the two with the damaged cloaks moved easily from shadow to shadow. If it wasn't for the severely injured one the bots might have lost their new allies several times in the darkness. As it was Kup soon realized that the injured organic was slowing the party down significantly. He had a quick whispered conversation with Drift and then signaled a halt. As soon as the Autobots stopped the commander materialized out of the shadows.

"Hey. This would go a lot faster if we carried the injured one," Kup stated. The medic turned and relayed the suggestion to the commander who nodded. He gave a few hand signals and seven of the soldiers gathered at the Autobots feet, including the two injured in the explosion as well as the one with the damaged arm. First the organic with the damaged arm was helped forward. Drift noted with concern that it seemed to be losing coordination. It staggered painfully as it approached. Drift reached down with one servo and tried to pick the little one up. But the medic waved away his hand and beckoned him closer. Kup glanced at the red and white Autobot curiously but Drift just shrugged and carefully knelt down and bent over until his face was so close to the medic that he could hear the atmosphere being drawn in and out of its chest. The small organic pointed a grapple at him and fired. It latched securely onto the broad plates of the Autobots shoulder. Kup jerked and let out a low exclamation but Drift waved him back and said,

"I'm fine. It's not at all uncomfortable." The medic leapt up onto the Autobot's shoulder and proceeded to secure the grapple line in three more places. It signaled the organics below then turned and mimed picking something up to Drift. The warrior reached down and, as gently as he could, picked up the worst injured of the organics. The organic relaxed into the palm of Drifts servo and let out a small sound of relief. He could feel the warmth of the tiny creature's body, the quick but strong fluttering as some internal pump maintained its life-force. Like the others it drew the atmosphere in and out of a vent system in its chest, but the pain had made the pattern harsh and ragged. Drift looked down into the grey optics and felt something rise up in him. This little spark would not be extinguished, he vowed silently to himself.

A heavy weight seemed to settle on the Autobot's shoulders, one that had nothing to do with the mass of the waiting medic. These creatures trusted the Autobots. This lifeless planet alone was far more inhospitable to these fragile little ones than to the Autobots, let alone the waiting Decpticons. This battlefield, these enemies were those of Cybertron, yet the organics seemed perfectly willing to share any risk that might present itself, thought they themselves were in need of protection.

"Drift, sometime this cycle would be good," growled Kup. Drift stared out of his reverie and held his hand level with his shoulder. With the medics help the organic crawled over to the grapple line and the medic secured it there. The medic paused to gently stroke the injured soldier before scampering over to Drifts other shoulder. There it waved down at one of the other injured soldiers. The organic on the ground looked questioningly up into Drift's face and raised its grapple. Drift nodded. The little soldier fired the grapple and pulled itself up onto The Autobot's shoulder, where it secured itself to one grapple point. The medic gave it a quick exam before repelling to the ground.

The third injured organic trotted expectantly over to Kup and held up its grapple. The old Autobot glared down at it sourly until it faltered. Kup glowered over at the now standing Drift. 'You'd better be right about these,' was clearly written across the bot's faceplates. Then Kup reached down and roughly dropped the organic on his shoulder. The creature scrambled to attach the grapple and find a safe position while Kup began striding forward. The organics' commander glanced up at Drift and then back at the green Autobot and chirped out a question a worried look on his face. Drift tried to smile reassuringly down at the organic. The Autobot could guess what it was thinking.

"Kup is never extremely focused on stealth," Drift said with a small smile. "But your soldier couldn't be safer." The organic didn't look quite convinced when the medic relayed the words, but he signaled the rest of his troops and they moved out. The rest of the journey went smoothly and Kup arrived first at the meeting place.

Pale blue moonlight fell silently into a small clearing surrounded by several standing stones. The stones cast black shadows across the open space between them. Drift glided silently around the surrounding ruins, scouting for trouble. There were signs the Decpticons had been there, but they were several solarcycles old. The warrior signaled his commander that all was clear. Kup slipped into one of the shadows and stood stock still. The shadows rippled to announce the small soldiers' presence as they gathered at the base of the stones.

The injured organics on Drift's shoulders leaned easily and silently into his movements despite their injuries. They were clearly experienced at traveling this way. The bot crouched down silently next to Kup to wait for the others, and the medic came to check on its comrades. Drift could see now that the medic was easily the smallest of the soldiers in the group, but it clambered easily up his legs and onto his back. In the silence Drift wondered about these little creatures. They were so fragile, so small, but seemed utterly fearless around the much larger bots. Who had they encountered out there among the stars to teach them this trust? Drift knew of only one online bot who could install such faith in other sentients.

The ones against the stones had turned off their cloaks, revealing their under-armor. Some took the chance to loosen helmets. Drift watched as their commander moved from each to each touching a shoulder here, laying a hand on an exposed head there. Again the Autobot was reminded powerfully of the Prime he served. A small spark of hope began to burn in the tried warrior. If they could reach the ship… Drift brought his mind severely back to the moment at hand. This was no time to let his mind wander. Among other things, the virus ate away at alertness, and on a planet crawling with cons that could be deadly.

The clattering of stones drew his attention. A tall blue Autobot came rushing around the corner and slid to a stop in front of Kup. He straightened and shook the dust off his chassis. Despite his substantial bulk his sleek body was clearly built for speed. He glanced curiously down at the organics who had raised their weapons at his sudden approach before throwing Kup a jaunty grin.

"These the new friends who are gonna' get us off this dirtball?"


	5. Welcome Aboard Resilient

Rescue 5

Sort of a Transformers Movie-verse Fanfic

Kup waved Blurr over and began to explain the situation to him. Meanwhile two bots stomped around the corner of the rocks carrying a third, who was obviously in bad shape. Drift heard the medic gasp. Nearly before Springer and Topspin could settle Preceptor on the ground the medic was on him and giving a quick field exam. Springer tried to shoo the organic away but Drift laid a hand on the green bot's shoulder and shook his head.

"Trust me friend, and let it try. It was able to repair my leg while Deadfire was taking potshots at us."

The old green bot arched his optic ridges and looked down at the little creature scampering across the scientist's chest doubtfully.

"Not that I doubt your word Drift," he stated, "but there's a heap o' difference between patching up a busted joint and healing circuit fry as bad as Preceptor's is." Topspin nodded in agreement and shifted nervously as a handful of the organics slipped past him.

"That is true," Drift admitted, "But the little one seems very competent, and I can see no harm in letting it make an examination of Preceptor."

Springer still looked unconvinced but he let the medic continue unimpeded. Twintwist and Hotrod strolled up causally. The sleek yellow and orange bot readily crouched down by the organics while the white and blue Twintwist strolled over to talk to his brother. The little creatures seemed to be admiring Hotrods brilliant paint job, which by some miracle had survived relatively unscathed since his last repaint. The mech was preening himself under their obvious admiration.

Suddenly a soft glow emanated from the medic's arm. Kup leaned in to get a look at the screen it was projecting. It was a diagram of Preceptor's damaged circuits. The little organic was speaking slowly and clearly while indicating sections of his CPU. Clearly it was asking for permission to proceed with some treatment. Kup grunted, he was no medic but the leader knew enough to understand it was proposing a rather invasive procedure. He glared over at Drift's repaired knee join. It those welds were anything to go by the medic knew its stuff. He nodded. The organic wasted no time in opening the required panels on preceptor's helm. It poked and prodded a bit, removing a fried circuit or two, but mainly it carefully applied emergency energon slips directly to the dark circuitry.

When it was done it ran around to each of the Autobots in turn waving a scanning device around. Clearly it intended to give them each a quick checkup. Springer looked down on it suspiciously when it skittered up to him. The young green mech glanced up at Kup with a question on his faceplate.

"Let it do a scan or whatever," the leader responded to the unspoken question. "But keep your important bits shielded."

Springer nodded and offered a hand to the organic. It went around happily scanning the bots until there was a noise from Preceptor. Kup let out a surprised exclamation and the Autobots gathered around their insensible comrade. The red scientists was slowly coming to. He reached up to rub his head and stared around in confusion.

"Hey Percy!" Hotrod exclaimed grabbing his hand. "How're you doing?"

The mech stared at him blankly and tried to speak, but nothing came out.

"So the organic's useful but no miracle worker," Kup muttered with a nod at the medic who was perched on Preceptor's shoulder running more scans.

Drift smirked to himself. That was high praise from the crusty old warrior.

"Allright! We move out to the ship now," Kup ordered, helping Preceptor to his feet.

Each of the Autobots slipped out into the night, taking up their assigned positions. Twintwist stayed by Preceptor's side. The mech could walk now but was still moving slow. The medic chose to remain on his shoulder despite his stumbling gait. The rest of the uninjured organics slipped along silently. To the rather great surprise of the Autobots they made it to the ship without further incident, save the sound of explosions coming from the direction of the Decepticon craft.

"Huh, the idiots killing themselves for us again," Kup had growled.

Finally they had crested a small rise.

"Now there's a pretty sight," Murmured Topspin. His brother nodded in agreement. What had once been a Decepticon troop transport sat on top of a low mound. There was a furrow in the soil behind it indicating a rough landing, and on one side the hull was perforated with what looked like meteor strikes. The ship had been repainted from the ominous black to a utilitarian off white and bore the Autobot logo proudly on its bow. Its name was written in Cybertronain glyphs beside the shield below that was a line of symbols similar to the ones decorating the organics armor. It was damaged, but it could fly again.

"The Resilient, huh. So where's the rest of the crew?" Kup asked, optics flicking over the empty landscape. There was no way the organics had left the ship unguarded.

"Footprints," Drift nodded his head at the open area surrounding the ship. It was crisscrossed with tracks, too large to belong to the organics, too small to be Cybertronian.

"Hmm, looks like they've got some good sized friends," Kup replied. "Funny thing about the big rocks in that area too."

"What big rocks?" Drift asked.

"Exactly," the leader replied.

The red and white mech nodded. Anything that might have provided useful cover had been dragged away from the ship, effectively creating a safe zone. Only the most skilled of snipers would be able to strike the vessel from the nearest boulders.

The organic commander appeared at Kup's feet and waved him forward. The organics spread out around the Autobots and the group headed down the slope toward the Resilient. As they passed the last of the boulders Kup noticed flickering shadows against the stars. He smiled to himself, sentries. If these were going to be allies it was good to see they weren't idiots.

They passed a line in the sand and the silence of the desert night was broken by the cacophony of ongoing repairs.

"Audio visual dampener screen," Springer said in admiration. "Keeps the noise and movement around the ship basically invisible."

At first Drift thought there were small Cybertronians swarming over the damaged vessel but a closer inspection revealed more of the organics in exoskeletons, clearly designed to make working on the ship easier. The mechanics greeted the Autobots with the same sense of welcoming joy the scouting party had, if somewhat less enthusiastically. The repairs were taking most of their attention.

The landing ramp was lowered and the Autobots ushered onto the interior. The interior had been repainted from the usual Decepticon grey and glowed with white and blue. Panels had been lowered for easier access. In the main docking bay a series of flag were painted around a central depiction of a blue and green planet with the stern Autobot shield looking over it all. The organic commander turned and gestured around the ship. The medic handed him a device she had taken from another and he spoke into it. The machine obligingly chirped up and began translating.

"Welcome aboard the Resilient friends. It's not much, but with a little effort it should be able to get us home."


	6. Oops

Rescue 6

A Transformers Movieverse FanFiction.

"How the pit did you scrawny little organics get your servos on a Decepticon troop transport?" Kup demanded roughly.

Springer winced. Not exactly the best footing to start interstellar relationships on. But the commander only smiled and exchanged a strange look with the medic who touched one hand absently to its chest plate. The rest of the organics they'd traveled with had dispersed. The medic turned to give orders to several organics in soft white armor who were attending to the injured.

"This vessel was a part of the battle group that decimated one of our cities during the main Decepticon attack on our homeworld. Several of the ships were repaired and refitted for our own use. The Resilient was named in honor of the spirit of the city that was rebuilt," the dark commander explained.

"I'm Captain Epps of N.E.S.T. Exploration and Retrieval fleet. This is Captain Lennox our acting chief medical officer. While I'm sure we all have a lot of questions please let us escort your wounded to the medbay. Then the commander of the Resilient would like to speak with you."

"Blurr, Topspin, go join the organic sentries on the slope," Kup ordered curtly. "Twintwist, Drift, take Preceptor to the medbay, and get yourselves patched up as well. Springer, Blurr, and Hot Rod see what you can do about helping them patch up this ship. IF, that's fine with you, Captain Epps?" Kup looked down at the little organic.

The commander nodded.

"Right this way please," Captain Lennox led the three injured Autobots down a corridor where the injured humans had disappeared.

Kup turned back to the organic.

"The names Kup. So what exactly are you and what are you retrieving?" he asked optics roving over the interior of the vessel. It had been retrofitted to accommodate the small creatures but it still looked able to service a good sized crew of Cybertronians.

"Well, if you'll walk this way, our species is known as humans, were from the planet Earth. I'm guessing that yoouau," the device the human was carrying to translate began to sputter and crack. Captain Epps frowned down at the device and tapped on the screen a few times before trying to speak again. All that came out was a high pitched shriek. The human let out an abrupt noise and threw the device down the hall covering his ears.

"Scrap!" Kup snarled. Of course the virus would infect the ship's systems as soon as they were exposed. He should have thought of that, should have warned the humans. Again the virus affecting his judgment.

Captain Epps walked up to him and rested a hand worriedly on his foot.

"Kup?"

The Autobot recognized his name but the rest of the human's speech was meaningless. From the look on his face he was worried though.

"Yeah I'd be worried too if someone showed up and started breaking my systems," Kup muttered rubbing his faceplates tiredly. Why did these creatures trust them anyway? It made no sense if they had been attacked by Cybertronians. There was that Autobot shield on the side of the ship, but. Kup's train of thought broke as he realized that the human commander was speaking urgently to him. He reached down and grasped at the little one. It dodged out of his way and sent a short signal over a radio frequency. Kup winced as the ping hit his sensitive CPU. There was something he needed to do. He realized he was on one knee and the human was calling out to the others.

'The virus must be entering its final stage,' was his last thought before everything went black.

Drift linked one arm under Preceptor's and helped him down the corridor after the slim organic with Twintwist following behind. She held one of the communications devices.

"So your name is Drift?" she asked with a smile. The Autobot couldn't help but smile back.

"Yes, Captain Lennox Right?" he replied.

The medic nodded.

"But please call me Doctor Lennox," she said with a smile.

"I must thank you for the rescue back there Doctor, and your medical skills as well," he continued, "we are in your debt."

"Humanity owes much to the Autobots," she said softly, reaching up to touch her chestplate again.

"You are called humans?" Drift asked.

"Yes," she replied with a huge smile. "From the planet Earth."

"So tell me what's bothering you, other than the obvious," the doctor amended glancing at his repaired joint. "Why do you seem to be unable to translate our speech?"

"Deadfire and hic cons infected us with some kind of virus on the last planet we clashed on," Drift explained. "It also impeded our ability to communicate over radio."

The Autobot stopped speaking as the little creature spun around with a fierce look in her eyes.

"Virus? What kind of virus."

Drift felt his spark lurch as he realized the implications. How could they have been so stupid?

"It attacks the CPU," he began but Doctor Lennox only turned and waved them to follow her down the corridor at a faster pace.

"We have to get to the med bay. I can begin analysis and if need be quarantine you there."

The Autobot warrior didn't like the sound of a quarantine, but saw little choice. If the virus spread to this ship's systems IT could be devastating. They increased their pace and arrived at the medbay in short order. Doctor Lennox had them lie Preceptor down on a berth and immediately began barking out orders. With a start Drift realized he could no longer understand her. She frowned down at the translation device and handed it off to another human. The doctor waved the two ambulant Autobots over to another berth and began scanning them. The diagnostic screen pulled up the results almost immediately.

"Scrap," Twintwist muttered. "Did we just infect their ship?"

"In all likelihood yes," Drift replied bluntly. "But remember our ship was able to function with it in the systems."

Doctor Lennox barked out a command into the wall comm unit and received a reply.

"Woah, did you feel that?" Twintwist asked half rising from the medbay berth.

Drift nodded; there had been a subtle shift in the wave frequency output of the Resilient. Every ship gives off a unique energy signature. The change reminded the Autobot of something, but the fog in his CPU was suddenly getting worse. If he wasn't already flat on his back he would have fallen. The humans were clustered around him talking in an agitated manner. Then everything went black.

The Autobot didn't know how long he had been out when his optics snapped open, but his mind hadn't felt this clear in a long time. He lay there quietly for a moment; drinking in his surroundings. There was the soft rustling of the humans as they moved about the medbay. He could sense at least three of his companions nearby. With a start he realized that all three of his swords were gone.

There was a rustling at his side and he glanced down into the smiling face of Doctor Lennox. She held up a syringe in one hand and a thin scrap of metal with a string of Cybertronian sigils in the other.

-This restricts the growth of the virus,- was spelled out on the scrap.

Drift nodded, pleased to discover the movement didn't hurt his head, and held out his arm. She released a small panel near his wrist joint and injected the fluid directly into an energon valve. A fierce itching spread out from the valve then settled down into a not unpleasant burning sensation that flowed through his entire body. He smiled down at the doctor who patted his leg reassuringly. It was good, he mused, that these humans shared so many of their unspoken gestures with the Cybertronians.

Kup lay in another berth next to Precrptor. From the looks of their displays both were stable. Topspin was across the room with three of the humans busily welding away at some new injury. So the Decepticons had made another attempt. Drift looked around for his weapons, but couldn't see them anywhere in the vicinity.

Drift slowly got up. The human Doctor didn't appear pleased but didn't object either. He examined his injured knee. It appeared to be healing well. Doctor Lennox noticed his attention and pulled up a display on the monitor screen. The diagram was detailed and showed what he expected, but wherever there should have been labels or descriptions was only static. The Autobot frowned grimly at that. If the virus reacted the same to this ship as it had to theirs the vessel would still be able to fly but have trouble navigating.

The noise of the medbay doors sliding open drew his attention. Suddenly every human in the room stiffened and snapped their right hand up to touch their heads. Drift straightened and examined the two humans who had just entered. Captain Epps stood to the side of a slightly taller human. This one was the focus of the attention of every other human in the medbay. He nodded and gave a crisp order to the medics working on Topspin, who immediately resumed their work. Piercing blue eyes stared up at Drift. He had a growth of the fine fibers over the lower portion of his face; white merging into the black fibers that could be seen under the flat head covering he wore. The only decorations on his soft white armor were two sets of five starbursts where his chestplate met his neck.

The human stepped toward Drift and spoke to him. The words sounded welcoming. The Autobot knelt and smiled at the human before firmly indicating his empty sheaths.

The human commander grinned in understanding and led the warrior into the next room. There in an isolation chamber were his swords as well as what looked like anything that hadn't been welded to his companions. The human commander and Captain Epps stepped up to a control panel and together unlocked the chamber. Drift reached in and took his weapons. It appeared this was some kind of decontamination unit. Most likely it was how the humans had taken samples of the virus to study.

The human commander called out to Drift and walked out into the corridor. He clearly meant the Autobot to follow. Letting someone you just met walk the halls of your ship armed, exposing your commanding officer to them, bringing them into your medbay despite knowing they had a dangerous virus; these humans were far too trusting Drift mused. But as he left his commanding officer insensible in their care it occurred to him that they were being a bit trusting too.


	7. Tension

Rescue 7

A Transformers Movieverse Fanfiction

More time had passed then the red and white Autobot had realized. From the display on the command center wall he had been insensible on the med berth at least two solar cycles. The commander of the humans had led him to the bridge of the modified troop transport. Here too, the Decepticon grey had been painted over with off white. Perhaps these organics required more light Drift mused. Captain Lennox led them over to a display consol and picked up a stylus. It looked ridiculously large in the human's hand, but he used it easily. Carefully he stroked out Cybertronian sigils onto the screen.

*Designation?* He handed the stylus to the Autobot.

Drift carefully wrote out his name. The process was oddly painful. By the time he was done the sigils the human had written were beginning to degrade and his hand was aching. The Autobot stared at the human commander grimly. This virus was too smart, too aggressive, and eventually lethal for Cybertronians. What would be the organics' reaction?

The commander listened as Captain Epps read out Drift's name. The exchanged curious glances and shrugged. Apparently it didn't mean anything to them. Probably that was for the best the Autobot mused. They took him to another display and pulled up a schematic of the ship. Captain Epps pointed to a spot where there was a single icon of an Autobot shield and a cluster of what Drift assumed were supposed to be stylized humans. The human then indicated the area around them. A map then. Six bright red Autobot symbols were in or on the ship proper, with two moving around outside. Dozens of the human icons moved about the ship. A scattering of gunmetal grey Decepticon shields were scattered around the vessel.

After he had studied the diagram for a bit the human commander chirped for his attention. The organic took the stylus and drew two sigils on the display; sentry? Repairs?

Drift smiled. Theses creature clearly didn't believe in wasting time. He lightly touched the sentry sigil and turned to exit the ship. Captain Epps led him out of the bridge and through the corridors of the Resilient. They passed other humans busy with repairs or simply hurrying to and fro. Each glanced up long enough to salute them both. It was daylight again when they walked down the ramp. Drift was pleased to note that already the majority of the external repairs had already been affected. A human in an exosuit stomped past and saluted.

"Drift!" a voice called. There was eagerness bubbling up in the tone. Twintwist appeared across the empty zone surrounding the ship and trotted over to them.

"Swap me out for guard duty?" he asked cheerfully.

Drift nodded silently as his fellow soldier began to fill him in. He had apparently been out for two of the local solar cycles. The humans had a device that mitigated some of the effects of the virus and a serum that slowed its progress; both of which bore distinctive similarities to the inventions of the Autobot doctor Ratchet. The rest of the Autobots were also experiencing increasing difficulty in communicating, for some even speaking was becoming had been a few scattered attacks on the ship, but with the main ion cannons in working order none had succeeded. Apparently he con's had split into four of five factions and were still fighting among themselves.

"Well I'm going topside to help with the hull repairs," Twintwist finally said with a gesture towards Hot Rod, who was clambering over the ship. Drift nodded.

The red and white mech glanced down at Cap. Epps, who was conferring with another human. With a grin up at the Autobot the organics triggered their cloaks and ghosted across the field. Drift followed silently. He reached a high point on the surrounding burm and surveyed the layout. There were a few mounds where he recalled the Decepticon insignias being on the map. So the bodies had been buried. But there was no sign of renewed con activity. Blurr reported the same when they passed each other.

The next few solar cycles ticked slowly by. With each passing cycle communicating grew more difficult; reading the sigils the humans wrote out inflicted pain, writing responses caused joints to seize up, even speaking became a burden. Doctor Lennox was constantly at work; soothing virus affected circuitry, patching injuries acquired during the ongoing repairs, and tending to the needs of her fellow humans. Preceptor had woken from his stasis lock and immediately began assisting the repair crews. He was still weak, but his contributions halved the time required to complete the repairs. It was soon clear that they'd be lifting off in less than a solarcycle.

Despite this good news, with the mounting difficulty of communication, tempers began to fray. Kup had to break up several altercations between bots. At first their new allies only watched from the sidelines. But after one heated discussion ended in a short brawl the humans apparently decided to intervene. It was subtle at first. Drift noticed that the little organics wee working to keep the Autobot's separate, arranging shifts so they didn't meet in the corridors. That was difficult though. The warrior was about to step between an enraged Hot Rod and Springer at one point when a swarm of humans descended on the two bots. About a half a dozen each gathered around their feet resting hands on the warm metal and chirping worriedly. The Autobots snarled down in annoyance at the little organics but didn't dare move for fear of crushing them.

Doctor Lennox came rushing up with Cap. Epps in tow. The smaller human immediately began scampering up Hot Rod while the larger took on Springer. Drift watched in fascination as the orange and red Cybertronian frantically grasped at the small organic. She finally settled down and dropped into his servos when she reached his chestplates. Doctor Lennox seemed to fold in on herself suddenly. She wrapped her arms around her knees and leaned against the Autobot looking up at him with a pleading smile. She reached under her soft armor and pulled out something that hung on a chain around her neck. Drift caught a glimpse of something black. The human began to sing softly while stroking Hot Rod's chestplate, the words were foreign but Drift recognized the tune as an old Cybertronian lullaby. Hot Rod gaped down at Doctor Lennox for a moment, but soon the soothing affect of her presence, her touch, and the song pierced the angry fog in his processer and a smile crept across his mouth. He glanced sheepishly over at Springer, who Epps had just managed to get calmed down. The two bots laughed a little awkwardly and very deliberately clapped each other on the arm with their free servos. The humans took this as a sign that all was well and dispersed happily, except for two of the soldiers. One each stayed with Springer and Hot Rod as they went on with their task.

"You know," came a voice at Drift's side, "That there might have been very disturbing if it wasn't for one thing."

The Autobot glanced over at Kup. Who was leaning against a nearby wall.

"You are referring to their ability to manipulate us?" Drift asked.

"Yep, they can play the boys like a Caldonian harp, especially that Doctor. You ever get what they look like?"

Drift nodded.

"I have noticed that these humans bear a strong resemblance to our own hatchlings," he said seriously.

"Exactly. Small, weak, in need of protection, too trusting, big eyes, cute smiles. It's like they're designed to endear themselves to us. You just saw they know how to use it deliberately to get what they want," there was a note of suspicion in the leader's voice.

"What is the one thing that keeps it from being disturbing?" Drift asked.

"They've yet to use that ability for anything except our god," Kup sighed tiredly rubbing his face plates. "Scrap it! We're being too trusting of them, but they're being just as trusting as us. For all we know this might just be some elaborate con trap!"

"A trap that involves killing one of the most powerful Decepticon leaders and going out of their way to keep us alive when they could have offlined us several different times easily?" Drift asked soothingly, resting a comforting hand on his friend's shoulder. "I think we can trust these humans. They have proven themselves."

"Yes, you're right," muttered Kup.

Familiar chirping drew their attention to their feet. Two human soldiers stood there casually.

"Huh, looks like after that show we each get our own personal escort," Kup grunted.

Drift smiled down at 'his' human and held out a servo. The soldier eagerly scrambled up and was soon resting easily on his shoulder.

"If they help keep the peace," Drift said easily as the human made itself comfortable. He actually enjoyed having the small creature perched there. He could feel the faint beating of its core; hear it being drawing the air in and out. These rhythms helped soothe the near constant ache in his processor.

Kup only grunted and gave a jerk of his head to indicate the human was to follow him to the next part of the ship that needed repairing.


	8. Attack

Rescue 8

Attack

A Transformers Movieverse Fanfiction

As they had expected the Decepticons waited until the ship was fully repaired before they launched any concentrated attack. The sensor grid laid out by Preceptor picked up their approach a cycle before launch was scheduled. Drift crouched on the burm surrounding the Resilient. His designated human shimmered silently beside him, cloak engaged. Hot Rod was on the other side of the ship. The rest of the Autobots were working on last minute repairs or insensible in the med-bay berths.

The first attack came low and fast; turbo foxes and small attack drones dashing around, scouting for the cloaked humans. Fast on their dust trails came a wave of low flying seeker drones. The hovered as close to the ground as they could, trying to avoid the powerful plasma canons. They were using low energy blasts. Drift was surprised but grateful for that. He ignored the smaller land drones and focused on the onrushing jets.

Out of the corner of his optics he saw the turbo foxes begin to go down. They were cunning enough to avoid the minefield the human soldiers had laid out but it funneled them into a few corridors. Sections of ground the humans had calibrated their weapons for exactly. With deadly precision the energon enhanced ballistics tore the sleek creatures apart. But turbo foxes are fast, designed to do the most damage possible in the shortest amount of time. Even as their brothers fell more swarmed up the sandy burm. Drift glimpsed one leap into the air and come crashing down on one of the moving shimmers. Then the first jets were on top of him.

The Autobot swung his sword up to meet the onrushing seeker drone. He connected and one wing sheared off, sending the jet spiraling into the ground. The others immediately reacted and pulled up out of his reach, directly into the path of the powerful ion cannons of the Resilient. Searing bright balls of light spat out and knocked the drones out of the sky. After the smoke had cleared, only one managed to limp back towards the Decepticon ship. Drift ignored it wand waited for the ground attack.

The Small group of Decepticons came with a rush, firing at the ground ahead of them to trigger the mines. Drift leapt forward to meet the leader. He brought one sword up to slash at the con's undercarriage and the other down on his head. The con managed to block the down stroke with his blaster arm but the upswing tore through his unarmored waist joint. The Autobot shoved him away and brought his arm up to block a blow from another opponent. The battle dissolved into a string of strikes and blocks. His human danced beside him, nearly invisible, striking out with his weapon, he seemed to instinctively compensate for the lethargy the virus was plaguing Drift with. As each opponent fell the Autobot turned his attention to the next, knowing the organic would take care of finishing the job on the downed con.

Then came the moment when he turned and found none within range. The sounds of battle were dying down on the other side of the ship as well. Drift's human suddenly de-cloaked and waved for the bot's attention. The organic signaled that they were to retreat to the ship for lift off. Drift nodded. Something glinted in the rocks behind the human. Fear pierced the Autobot's spark as he recognized the turbo fox leaping at the organic. The human must have seen the look in his optics because he spun bringing his weapon up: too slowly, far too slowly. Drift lashed out with his blade. It connected with the glimmering silver creature, sheering it in half. The rear half fell twitching to one side, while the front half collapsed on top of the fallen human.

The Autobot tenderly reached down and scooped up the organic, turbo fox remains and all, and loped quickly back towards the ship. The razor sharp talons of the creature had slashed down across the human's neck and chest, slicing right through the armor. Red internal fluid was bubbling out of the neck joint.

"Hold on little one," Drift muttered, as he dodged shots from the last few cons.

The human twisted his mouth into a smile and with a supreme effort reached up and rested a red stained hand on The Autobot's shoulder. Comfort. Then with one final gasp the creature went limp, dark brown optics staring out blankly into the distance. Ice seemed to settle around Drift's spark chamber as he felt the internal pumps stop. He leapt up the ramp, which began to close even before they had crossed it.

Doctor Lennox was tending to the wounded on the other side of the bay. She looked up when Drift shouted hoarsely. He didn't know how much of that red fluid the humans could afford to lose, but there was far too much splattered over the deck. The human doctor stood and came running over when Drift dropped to his knees. She reached around the remains of the turbo fox and rested her fingers against the human's neck. Her face went from focused to blank. She triggered a small device on her wrist and ran a scan beam over the human's head. Mutely the human pointed over to the far side of the bay. Then she turned and strode back to her patients.

Drift stared after her, not wanting to understand. He looked down at the silent form he held as the ship lurched, leaving the atmosphere of this world behind. The look on her face, he had seen it far too many times in this endless war. Hopeless, gone. Slowly he got to his feet and carried the human to the place she had indicated. Six black sacks rested in a row, each about the size and shape of a human. They were secured to the deck with cargo straps. Hot Rod knelt over a smaller one, he looked up as Drift approached.

"Seeker drone caught this one with a laser blast," the orange and red mech indicated the black mass he was keeping watch over, "There wasn't much left for me to bring back."

Drift nodded. A human with three chevrons on his shoulder came over and waved for the Autobot to hand over his burden. But the warrior hesitated. The organic soldier let out a long sigh of air and picked up one of the empty black sacks off the floor. He mimed placing something in it and sealing the bag. Drift carefully shifted the rapidly cooling form to one arm and reached out. The living human gave a tired but understanding smile and handed it over. With the utmost care the Cybertronian eased the body into the bag. He extended a small grapple from a servo and sealed the container shut. Tenderly he placed the soldier next to this fallen brothers and secured the straps.

"Why?" muttered Hot Rod, reaching down to touch the remains of 'his' human. "Why get involved with us? What were they even doing out here? This isn't their war."

"The Decepticons are not known for allowing species that find themselves in their path the choice of neutrality," Drift pointed out softly.

"Yeah, I just kind of like it better when all we have to worry about is ourselves," Hot Rod responded. The mech brusquely stood and strode towards the doors.

Over by the injured Doctor Lennox was securing the last human for transport to the medbay. Drift watched silently as she ushered the last of her assistants out and strode through the doors with one final chirp at him. He smiled softly, he didn't need a working translator to tell him he'd just been ordered to the infirmary.

The high pitched whine of a sonic mop caught his attention. The soldier with the three chevrons was cleaning up the fluid, rapidly drying from red to brown, from the deck with the aid of a human sized device. There was a full sized one in the supply closet behind him. The Autobot silently strode over and picked it up. For the next several hours he kept watch over the dead to the steady humming of two sonic mops.


	9. Memeorial

Rescue 9

Memorial

A Transformers Movieverse Fanfiction

They wondered about the weapons. Seven humans marched out to the center of the bay and stopped, holding long blunted plasma rifles. Altered as they were the weapons were useless for fighting or training, all they could do was make a loud noise and flash when discharged.

The crew of the Resilient had gathered in the main cargo bay. Each of the humans was wearing crisp lightweight armor; white and varying shades of blue with dabs of other bright colors sprinkled over chest and shoulders. They stood in straight rows shifting and murmuring to each other. There wasn't a single smile in the entire crowd, Drift noticed. At the moment all eight of the Autobots were up and about. They stood silently against the back bulkhead watching the proceedings. Suddenly a harsh voice rang out over the assembly and the entire assembly snapped up into a rigid position.

Doors set into the wall cycled open and a slow procession came out. A black bag draped in a flag was carried forward on a frame, three stiff faced humans to a side. In addition to their soft armor each of the organics had a black band around their left forearm. Six more followed the first out onto the middle of the bay deck. Most of the flags were variations of patterns in red, white, and blue stripes, but one was orange and red with some intricate design. The bearers turned one at a time and for a moment all seven stood facing the ships commanding officer. Then, in unison, they lowered their burdens to the floor. The bearers saluted the commander, who returned the gesture, and marched to their places in the assembly. Another order rang out and the humans moved as one hands linking behind their backs, feet spreading out a bit.

The Autobots stood in silent respect as the scene played out in front of them. A memorial service like this really needed no translation. The pain in the commander's voice, Drift had heard too many times from the voice of Prime. He glanced across the room to Doctor Lennox and Captain Epps. They wore identical expressions, soft organic faces hardened into impassive masks. But the doctor, Drift worriedly focused in on her eyes, they were leaking a clear liquid. Streams of it ran down to drop unheeded to the deck. Now that he was looking for it the strange symptom was showing on more than one face in the crowd. He made a note to ask about it later.

Another officer stepped forward. He read out something from a worn book. When he put the book away the assembled humans dropped their heads and closed their eyes as he finished speaking. Another barked order and the organics went rigid again, hands coming up to salute.

Captain Epps stepped forward and exchange words with the commander. The captain walked down the row of bodies. At each one he pressed his thumb into a device on the bag and spoke a few words. He finally stepped back and a hush fell across the bay. The human pointed a small device at the bodies and pressed a trigger. A flash of light, a brief wave of heat; where there had lain seven body bags on frames now sat seven crystals. When Epps picked up the first his hand convulsed closed around it, completely covering the glittering cube. The captain composed himself and gathered the rest. He presented them, cupped in the palms of his hands to the commander. The commander placed his hands flat over the crystals and spoke a few words. Captain Epps silently secured the cubes in an inner pocket of his chest armor and returned to his place.

Another order rand out and the assembled slipped back into the more relaxed position. A few more words were spoken while the humans listened with bowed heads. They stiffened one more time as each of the seven armed soldiers brought their weapons up and fired three time in rapid succession. A single human stepped forward and raised a gleaming brass instrument to his lips. A slow sad song sounded through the bay. At the last note the commander and his officers left the bay and the rest of the humans followed in subdued silence.

Doctor Lennox walked briskly up to an ashamed Hot Rod, who was beginning to list noticeably, and chirped at him commandingly. She led the worst off of the Autobots back to the med bay. Drift lingered behind and approached Captain Epps who was standing silently by a view port. The human turned and looked up at the warrior with a tired smile. Drift knelt and pointed at the organic's chest, then held out a hand. Epps seemed confused for a moment and searched the Autobot's faceplate. But comprehension dawned, and he reached under his armor and pulled out one of the crystals and handed it to the waiting mech.

Drift gently held up the crystal. It caught the gold light of his optics and fractured it into a thousand different flecks of light. Each of its six sides bore markings; two had simple lines of the humans' script, on had the pattern of the banner that had draped his body, one had a stylized figure of a human, one a circle with an arrow, and the last the Autobot shield. So, this was all that was left of 'his' human. Drift carefully handed the gem back to Epps. When the captain slipped it back into place the Autobot noted that the seven from today were not alone. Such armor was a heavy burden to bear.


	10. Journey

Rescue 10

Journey

A Transformers Movieverse Fanfiction

Kup sat watching the void of space slip by through a wide viewport. The Resilient was forging on towards some destination unknown to the eight Autobots. The humans had tried to communicate the location. Showing pictures of a blue planet teaming with organic life. They had also shown them images of various Cybertronians. Perhaps one of them had been Optimus Prime. Perhaps it had been only a wistful dream flitting through his CPU. The virus was slowly but surely taking its toll. When they were coherent the other spoke of seeing comrades long offline walking the halls. Speaking with the others inspired shooting pains across his processor. These cycles he was more often in stasis than awake. The only one of the Autobots who was still reasonably functional was Drift.

Kup glanced over to where the warrior was kneeling among a group of humans. They had a projection of some game spread out before them. Doctor Lennox had introduced Drift to it. Black and white circles on a grid. Kup shook his head and slowly stood up. He could feel the wave of discomfort that was usually followed by stasis lock. He should get to the infirmary.

Drift looked up and saw his commander getting shakily to his feet. He gave a quick bow to his opponent across the game board and rose to assist the green mech. Kup glowered at him from half shuttered optics. The Autobot ignored his superior's mood and slipped an arm around the older mech's shoulders to help him along. It said something about Kup's condition that he didn't protest the assistance.

The medibay was crowded when they got there. The room could easily house dozens of humans, but the seven incapacitated Autobots filled it to near capacity. According to preceptor the stopgap measures Doctor Lennox and he had used appeared to be keeping the virus in check. The human had displayed an understanding of Cybertronian physiology that had stunned the Autobot scientist. But now the virus was slowly taking its toll. It ate away at their CPU's, shutting off functions one by one. The time they spent blacked out in stasis lock was slowly increasing.

Drift helped Kup onto one of the medical berths. The old soldier was in stasis lock before his helm contacted the sensor grid. Doctor Lennox was there in an instant; hooking up sensors and fussing over the commander. She secured an energon drip line to him and stepped back with a sigh. She smiled tired up at Drift and gestured to one of the few remaining unoccupied berths with a diagnostic tool. The Autobot understood. In her quest to discover ways to combat the virus she frequently put him under the scanner, trying to figure out why he alone among the mechs was resisting the infection. The virus was still at work in him; just at a far slower rate that his comrades. The warrior would have gladly told her the reason, if he had been able to communicate such a complex concept. But at this point he had lost even the ability to write coherently.

After she was done with the latest round of tests Doctor Lennox let out a tired sigh and rubbed her eyes. Drift reached out a placed a comforting servo on her shoulder. The blond woman smiled up at him and rested a hand on the proffered digit. She then turned and began inputting data into a terminal. A few of the critical systems had been spared the effects of the virus by their absolute isolation; isolation the humans strived to maintain. The medibay computers were one of those systems.

The Autobot warrior came to himself with a start. The doctor was gone. Not exactly certain why he rose to find her. He somehow found the human's presence comforting. He passed at one of the few human occupied berths and paused. The medic who had been injured helping him lay on there, writing in some sort of organic book. The little creature looked up at him and gave a weak smile. Drift knelt and lightly touched the human's chest, allowing the human to pat his digit in return. One of the things he had observed in watching these creatures' interactions was that touch was incredibly important to them. It also remained the Autobots' sole means of communication with their hosts.

As Drift rose to leave the light colored coverings on the injured human shifted. The Autobot shuttered his optics in surprise. Where the injured arm had attached to the main frame of the human was now only a short stump wrapped in white organic cloth. The human noticed his gaze and let out a small series of chirps waving his remaining arm dismissively. Drift smiled down at the brave little soldier. He wondered if humans were reformatted as easily as Cybertronians. The Autobot sincerely hoped so.

There were only so many places for even a creature as small as a human to hide on a spaceship. He spotted Doctor Lennox curled up in one of the view ports. The ledge offered just enough space for the human to sit. On the other side of the round window stars of every color shone brilliantly. The light was caught and refracted in the clear fluid that ran down the human's face. Drift hesitated, unsure about the best course of action. The human had obviously come here seeking solitude. Perhaps he should retreat to the medibay.

Soft, nearly soundless foot falls drew his attention. Captain Epps was walking slowly towards the other human a concerned look on his face. He reached out a hand and placed it on her shoulder. Lennox jerked at the unexpected touch and fell awkwardly back into his arms with a yelp of surprise. A rare laugh escaped the captain as he helped his smaller teammate to her feet. She smacked at him playfully but soon joined in his laughter. He spoke to her gently and the smile faded from her face. The human turned back to the endless starscape and curled up in her previous position.

Epps jumped up on the ledge in front of her and sat with his arms crossed loosely over his knees. The two humans began to speak in hushed tones. The captain was trying to offer the despondent doctor some comfort, but she seemed reluctant to accept it. Finally the larger human reached out and tapped the center of her chest. She slipped one hand under her armor and pulled out the metal tags that all of the soldiers seemed to wear. Besides the usual two thin plates covered in human writing, hers held a gleaming black Autobot shield. Epps pulled out his own, identical except that his shield was primary red. He was speaking intently now, one hand on her shoulder. Lennox reached up as if she wanted to remove the hand but he gently lifted her head up so their eyes met.

Without taking his eyes off hers Epps carefully stroked the side of her face, brushing away the leaking fluid. His hand rose further, tangling in the golden fibers on her head. She returned the gesture, stroking the shorter black fibers on his scalp. Slowly the two humans leaned towards each other. Their lips met gently in the starlight.

Drift silently retreated to the medibay.

Time had ceased to have meaning for the Autobot warrior. He didn't know how much time had passed but something was about to happen. The human crew was chattering with excitement over something. Drift watched them hustling in and out of the medibay with an assortment of minor injuries; lacerations, burns, the kind that cropped up when something distracting was afoot. Doctor Lennox was perhaps the least affected, trying to keep the worst off of the Autobots online was taking most of her concentration. But soon she was at his side gesturing for him to lie down. The Autobot obeyed. Around him the human medics were securing themselves into seats set into the bulkhead. An alarm sounded over the intercom and the humans went silent.

Drift felt the ship around him suddenly shift. The sensation was something like going through a space bridge, but more intense. After the shift had passed a few of the humans appeared to be purging internal stores of organic matter into containers they had ready. Doctor Lennox was immediately up and about once the all clear had sounded, checking on her patients. She did stop a moment to join in the cheer the sounded when the commander's voice came over the com.

The Autobot got to his feet and walked out to the nearest view port. The blue green planet the humans had showed them images of shone like a jewel against the backdrop of space. So, the ship had carried them to the organic's homeworld. He glanced down when he heard a familiar chirping. The medic who had lost an arm was staring eagerly out the viewport with clear fluid in his eyes and delight lighting up his face. Odd, that leaking had so many different uses, Drift mused.

Doctor Lennox appeared to shoo both patients back into the med bay, bur even the healer couldn't resist her first long look at home.


	11. Homecoming

Rescue 11

Homecoming

A Transformers Movieverse Fanfiction

The landing was rough. A troop transport like the Resilient should have experienced no turbulence on such a simple atmospheric reentry, but the ship began lurching and jerking as soon as the hull touched the upper atmosphere of the blue world. Drift watched with concern as the planet's surface drew nearer. The lurching stopped and settled down into an unnerving, constant vibration.

The Autobot glanced over at the humans sitting strapped into the bulkhead. Their faces were a fascinating range of colors from green to white. Doctor Lennox sat calmly in the center seat, only her wide eyes betraying her fear. Clearly this was not normal. Most likely the virus had finally reached the ship's core functions. Whoever the pilot was, Drift hoped he was skilled at manual reentry.

The ship began to scream in protest as the altitude dropped and the atmosphere grew thicker. The Autobot shuttered his optics and began a calming meditation. Powerful engines began to roar as the Resilient began to slow. A final wave of power surged through the vessel and he felt the ship settle to the ground with a strut jarring thump. Drift snapped his optics open.

Lights flashed green and blue over head and a voice came over the comm. The humans began to cheer, they were home. Doctor Lennox was up; striding around to each of her charges, human and Autobot, checking vital stats and offering comfort.

The Autobot warrior suddenly felt very tired. After cycles of fighting the virus, of never feeling safe, he was weary. The small doctor climbed up beside him and gave a reassuring chirp and a quick pat on his helm. Drift let his optics shutter and relaxed back into the berth as the swarming blackness took his CPU.

*…perhaps it is simply that he was administered a partially effective vaccine during his previous employment. It would be completely in accordance with Shockwave's usual tactics to only give a delayed response vaccination …*

The Cybertronian voice droned on as Drift swam back towards consciousness. Preceptor. The Autobot felt a surge of relief that the badly damaged scientist was clearly fully recovered. At least his vocalize was.

Drift onlined his optics and turned to look at the voices. The red scientist was speaking while he worked at an odd consol. It was sized and formatted for a Cybertronian but appeared to be of alien construction, similar to the modifications on the Resilient. The Resilient. The Autobot frowned as he looked over at the ship. He was lying on a med berth outside of the vessel which had clearly undergone numerous repairs but now lay quiet. Some sort of fabric structure stretched tautly over the ship; ovoid and twice as large. Around him lay the rest of his unit.

"Drift, how are you feeling?" A soft voice asked from beside him.

The Autobot turned to look at the source of the sound and smiled. Doctor Lennox was looking up at him inquiringly. She wore light, multilayered armor, checkered in various shades of blue and decorated with few insignias, a data pad held in the crook of one arm and a stylus in her hand. The human placed both on a handy table as he sat up, careful of the leads connecting him to the diagnostic consol.

"I appear to be in far better condition than when I lost consciousness," Drift said carefully.

"I should hope so! We've been running the decon programs nonstop for the past month," she said with a grin. "Do you remember who I am?"

"Doctor Captain Lennox or the Resilient," Drift replied with a nod, "Acting Chief Medical Officer and the organic who put me back together while under fire from a Decepticon attack." Drift paused and stared intently at the human.

She nodded and consulted his charts.

"Good. There appears to be no residual memory loss. We'll have to run further tests to be sure of course."

*Of course. No study of the rehabilitation…* Preceptor piped up.

"But if these readings are anything to go by you should make a full recovery," Lennox finished over the red mech's voice.

Drift grinned. She had clearly been working with the talkative scientist for a while. It made sense reactivate the one who could help first.

"So the virus has been neutralized?" he asked.

*Indeed.* Preceptor offered. *They began administering the cleansing programs soon after we landed. I reactivated approximately two weeks ago and have been working to develop more efficient rehabilitation methods while we wait for the quarantine to lift. I've already uploaded the translation program for this species into you CPU.*

"Thank you Preceptor," the red and white mech said smoothly. "How are the others?"

"They are all coming along nicely," Lennox offered, pushing a stray lock of hair out of her face. "Most are ready to activate. We were only waiting to see how you reacted to coming back to the real world before we begin with the others." She paused and looked up at him with a grin. "So, once you've jumped through a few hoops for us we can proceed."

"I am glad to assist you Doctor, but is an agility test the most relevant place to start?" Drift asked in some confusion.

"A figure of speech," she replied with a laugh, "Now if you would try broadcasting a message to Preceptor."

They ran through a basic set of tests for the CPU and frame. In between Drift had a chance to observe the quarantine area. He wondered about the white fabric covering. It would have done nothing to contain the virus. Perhaps it was meant to keep the elements of this planet out. After the scientist and the doctor were satisfied that his wellbeing was not a fluke they began to wake the others. Explanations flowed back and forth as the organics rushed from one mech to another, checking vitals and securing loose diagnostic wires. Suddenly they snapped to attention as Captain Epps strode up.

"Commander Kup! It's good to see you up and about," Epps flashed a set of strong white teeth at the Autobot. "And just in time too. This is perfect."

"Just in time for what," Kup growled, immediately suspicious of anything declared prefect.

"We're about to breach the quarantine," the Captain responded. "We've been given the all clear for all the nasty little space bugs and there's someone we think you'd like to meet."

Kup glance sharply at Drift, who nodded. The green mech stood and stretched.

"Lead on Captain," he said.

The Autobots followed the human around the Resilient towards a door-like structure in the white barrier with Drift bringing up the rear, alert for trouble. It was almost inconceivable to the battle hardened mechs that Epps would be leading them into any danger, almost. When they reached the door Epps spoke into his comm. With an inrush of air the fabric began to billow and rise. It coiled back over the ship to collapse into a pile on the far side, but none of the mechs paid it any attention. Their optics were focused intently on the tall red and blue figure who stood on the other side beaming at them.

"Optimus!" Kup finally roared out. The green mech leapt forward and grasped the Primes forearms in joy. "So this is where you've been hiding."

"Indeed," the Autobot's leader nodded and clasped the warrior on the shoulder. "Welcome to Earth my friends. Welcome home."


	12. Discoveries

Rescue 12

Discoveries

A Transformers Movieverse Fanfiction

"What do you mean, 'welcome home'?" Kup demanded gruffly.

Optimus Prime smiled sadly as he looked at the loyal soldier.

"Much has transpired on this planet in recent cycles," he explained, "Far too much to go into at the moment. Simply know that these humans are our allies and our friends and you are safe for the time being."

The Autobots had many questions for their Prime. He moved among them, touching a hand here, giving a friendly punch there, never speaking much, but saying everything that needed to be said.

*Who's coming?* Kup suddenly demanded.

A convoy was approaching across the desert landscape escorted by a small flock of helicopters. Optimus turned to look at the oncoming vehicles but appeared to be unconcerned.

"Our human allies are merely bringing options for you to scan for your alt modes," he said calmly. "Two of our own are escorting them."

"Oh, wonderful," Kup growled as he caught sight of the twin Autobots approaching. "Chaos has arrived. What in the name of the All Spark are they driving?"

"Lamborghini," Epps offered with a grin. The human was staring in admiration at the two sleek sports cars weaving in and out of the convoy. "Specifically, the Gallardo LP 570-40. Sunny and Sides do have taste."

The Autobots in question suddenly spotted the newcomers. The bright yellow Lambo fell back to the rear of the convoy and the primary red one speed forward. Drift noted that Sideswipe was carrying a human passenger. Barely slowing down Sides transformed and placed his charge on the ground beside Optimus. The human staggered a bit and Optimus quickly reached down to assist the organic with a sharp glance at the younger Autobot. The red mech didn't seem to notice.

"Freddy!" He called out eagerly scooping up Captain Epps and tossing the human onto his shoulder. "Long time no see bud! Kup! How's it shaking you old fossil?"

"I'm online," snarled the green mech, "and surprised to find you that way too."

"Oh can't you just feel the love Freddy?" Sides addressed the human on his shoulder.

"Hey, I'm still on duty, It's Captain to you," Epps said but couldn't hold back the laughter.

Doctor Lennox was smiling at the two fondly but Drift noted with interest that she had subtly retreated behind his leg and was keeping him between herself and the gregarious Lamborghini.

"What? No way! The welcome home party started the moment I pulled up. Twintwist, Topspin, I can't wait to show you around, this planet may be disgusting sometimes, but it seriously rocks! Springer, great to see you. Now you can pay me that five cubes you owe me."

"Autobots!" Optimus voice rang out. The Prime didn't even try to sound stern or tone down the joyous chaos the red mech was radiating. He himself was smiling widely. Nevertheless the crowd grew silent out of respect as they faced their leader. The newest human was standing easily in his hand. The Autobot held him up for the rest to see.

"This is General William Lennox. The commander of the joint human/Autobot alliance on this world. General Lennox, please proceed," Optimus said.

"Thank you Optimus," the human replied.

Drift studied the human intently. He appeared larger than the average for the humans, but not quite as large as Epps. He wore dark blue armor covered in bright, colorful insignias. His hair was silver and his face was creased with innumerable lines. The Autobot had observed looks exchanged between the Doctor and General who shared a designation. They were clearly communicating much in the short glances.

"First let me say I'm a soldier, not a speech maker and Optimus is far more capable than me of filling you in on the details of this world, what you'll need to know to survive so I'll keep this short," He spoke firmly but there was humor under his words and appreciative smiles rippled through the assembled bots.

"Welcome to Earth. What we have well share with you; our resources, our allies and the couple hundred odd cons hiding out on our planet," he paused and indicated where the convoy was beginning to park.

Humans in green camouflage were pulling the covers off an assortment of gleaming vehicles. Drift heard Hot Rod let out a hum of pleasure as his optics fell on a gleaming orange chassis.

"We've provided vehicles for you to scan for the drive back to base. If you want something else you can find it later. Feel free to ask for anything else you might need. Again welcome to Earth."

"Autobots select you alt modes," Optimus ordered.

He reached down and set the human on the ground before pulling Kup aside to exchange data. The majority of the Autobots settled immediately on an alt mode. Drift found himself attracted to a white car with a single red center stripe. He approached and triggered the data stream associated with it. A Pontiac Firebird Trans AM. He scanned the data and felt the reformatting process begin. He settled down into his new alt mode, it felt good.

Springer had taken one good look at the available options and decided to skip the ground modes in favor of the Apache helicopters that had landed nearby. Kup also ignored the gleaming rainbow of options to scan one of the drab green escort jeeps. Sunstreaker had transformed and was having an animated conversation with Captain Epps while simultaneously sending out greetings to his fellow Autobots over the comm. system.

*Drift! Heard you took out Deadfire. Scrap, I wanted a piece of him.*

*Actually the humans accomplished that,* Drift corrected him.

*Whatever,* the younger bot said dismissively, *Con scrapped, good thing.*

A large data packet was suddenly presented bearing a familiar comm. ID. Drift accepted it and began processing the information. It was instructional data on Earth cultures. Drift filed it away for further study and turned his attention back to the Lambo twins. Sunstreaker had gotten bored.

The bot had started an altercation with his brother, apparently over who got to carry Epps around. This quickly dissolved into the human getting tossed back and forth between the two. Kup looked like he was about to intervene, but Captain Epps appeared to be enjoying it as much as the Lambo twins were; flipping and twisting acrobatically through the air. Drift heard a chuckle at his side and angled his mirrors to get a better look at the smile on Doctor Lennox's face.

"Boys will be boys," she said with a shrug. "Nice choice, by the way. How was the transformation process? That knee joint giving you any trouble?"

"Perfectly smooth," Drift assured her.

"Good," she responded. "Ratchet is waiting back at the base with the main med bay all warmed up for you bots, and I'll be relieved to turn your care over to him."

"You have preformed your duties as medic admirably," the Autobot stated. "I doubt any Cybertronian could have done better given the circumstances."

Lennox blushed and looked away quickly.

*Autobots prepare to roll out in five minutes,* came the order over the comm. The General had climbed into Optimus's cab. Sideswipe had finally transformed back to alt mode with Epps securely in the driver's seat.

"Doctor," Drift said opening his door, "Would you allow me to carry you back to base? I have some questions regarding the medic who was injured assisting me."

"Certainly," she replied sliding into the passenger seat. "What did you want to know about Bryant?"

Drift secured the seatbelt comfortably around her and rolled into place in the convoy.

"I noticed the damaged arm was removed. Will he be in reformatting long?"

"Ah, it doesn't quite work like that with humans," she said carefully, "I can tell you that his life is in no danger but if you want details on how Bryant intends to 'reformat' himself you'll have to ask him yourself. He does hope to speak to you by the way."

"By what way?" Drift asked.

Lennox laughed.

"It's a figure of speech. It indicates that the comment either proceeding or following it might be slightly off the current topic but is relevant."

"Ah, well I look forward to speaking to Mr. Bryant," Drift said.

They spoke easily as the convoy drew closer to the base.

"Dr. Lennox, may I ask you what may be a personal question?" Drift finally asked.

"Go right ahead," she replied.

"What is the meaning of the Autobot shields you and Captain Epps carry with your dog tags? I noticed that none of the other soldiers of any rank carry something similar."

Drift felt Lennox stiffen as her hand went to her neck. The woman's breathing and heart rate quickened.

"I am sorry. I didn't mean to offend," the Autobot said in concern.

"No," she said gently tugging out the chain. "You didn't offend me. I just. It's a hard story to tell."

She pulled out the tags and the shield and held it up for the Autobot to see.

"When the Decepticons first openly attacked our world my father was the commander of the only unit to survive. He worked with the Autobots from the start. Ironhide appointed himself guardian of my father after their first battle together. They just hit it off. I was a small child, a hatchling when Dad first brought him home. Dad as often as not brought him home when he was on leave. I grew up thinking of Ironhide as simply my father's brother," she paused, overcome with emotion.

"He was always kind to us," she whispered. "I can't tell you how much it meant to my mother and I, knowing that every time Dad had to face a con Hide was there to watch out for him."

She shook her head and gave a weak laugh. Drift had a cold feeling in his spark. He could guess how this story ended.

"Anyway, Uncle Ironhide, as I called him, bonded with me as well. One of our traditions on this world is the giving of gifts on the yearly celebration of our birth. Uncle Hide had gone to Mom for advice on what to get me and she told him, 'something personal,' a piece of himself. So the next time he got hit by a plasma shot it shattered a bit of his armor."

She paused as tears welled up in her eyes.

"He had Ratchet weld one of the pieces into the shield and gave it to me as a necklace." She was holding the shield up, letting it spin and catch the light of the sun.

"Captain Epps's birthday was a few weeks later and Sideswipe did the same thing. He was silver then, had a different alt mode. He makes Epps repaint it every time he upgrades."

She fell silent. What was left unsaid sitting there in the air.

"How did Ironhide die?" Drift asked gently.

Lennox slipped the shield back under her uniform.

"I think you should really ask Optimus about that," she said softly.

They were approaching the base so Drift let the subject rest.

A dusty grey hanger sat in the middle of the empty desert surrounded by high fences and various guard towers.

"The base is mostly underground," Lennox offered. "When ships aren't coming in damaged and corrupted they land around the main hanger and are lowered down into the vaults. The Resilient had to be landed so far away for the quarantines."

The bay doors opened and the Autobots rolled in. Ratchet was indeed waiting impatiently for them to arrive.


	13. NEST

Rescue 13

N.E.S.T.

A Transformers Movieverse Fanfiction

A dusty grey hanger sat in the middle of the empty desert surrounded by high fences and various guard towers.

"The base is mostly underground," Lennox offered. "When ships aren't coming in damaged and corrupted they land around the main hanger and are lowered down into the vaults. The Resilient had to be landed so far away for the quarantines."

"Quarantines?" Drift asked, stressing the plural.

"Yes, you weren't the only ones to bring back a nasty bug from that planet. We picked up a few organic creepy crawlies too. Nothing fatal to healthy young warriors, but we didn't want to let it out tot the general populous."

The bay doors opened and the Autobots rolled in. Ratchet was indeed waiting impatiently for them to arrive. He quickly swooped down on Preceptor and the two began chattering back and forth. Drift's optics roamed over the medibay. A cheerful chirp drew his attention to one of the berths. Bumblebee lay there clearly in the final stages of a long repair, explaining the medic's absence at the greeting. A human male stood beside the berth holding a line welder, energon staining his cloths. He glanced up from the repairs and smiled briefly in Drift's direction before going back to work.

*Drift! It's wonderful to see you,* the bright yellow mech whistled eagerly. *Come over here and meet my human.* Bumblebee shifted on the berth to sit up, to the protests of the organic. *This is Samuel Witwicky; the first human we contacted, First Ambassador to the Prime, and my best friend. Sam this is Drift. One of the best frontliners we bots have.*

"Samuel Witwicky, it is an honor," The white and red Autobot greeted him.

"Likewise I'm sure," the human held out a fist.

Drift glanced up at Bee inquiringly.

*Make a fist and lightly bump your servos against his,* the scout explained.

The Autobot complied.

"An interesting custom," he commented.

"Yeah," Sam replied, "it's the best greeting we civilians have figured out. The military types have all their salutes but this works for the rest of us."

*What do you mean by 'your human'?* Drift asked over the comm.

*He means he's my guardian and I'm his human caretaker.*

The red and white Autobot started at the unfamiliar comm. signal. Bee let out a chirp of amusement.

*Yeah, I've got an internal comm.* Sam continued without glancing up from his work. "Ratchet and Doc Lennox figured out how to safely install them years ago.* "It makes communicating with Bee easier," he continued vocally, "most of the guys here at N.E.S.T. have them."

"We must have missed the signals from the crew of the Resilient due to the virus," Drift mused.

*More likely they just didn't use them around you,* Bee pointed out, *Under that kind of combat situation they keep them highly coded and isolated. They don't have the processors to scramble their frequencies so if there's any chance of a con intercepting it they just stay quiet.*

"I see," Drift replied, "I take it from your condition that the Decepticons are still in active resistance on this planet."

Bumblebee nodded sadly and Sam let out a low growl.

*How are you feeling Drift?* Bee asked with a hint of worry in his voice. *Ratchet said he wasn't sure if there would be long term harm from the virus.*

"MY CPU grows clearer with every cycle that passes," Drift replied. "I believe the good Doctor will be examining us all thoroughly now that the quarantine has lifted."

"Yeah Doc Rach is gonna have you under the scanner all right. It's been all he's talked about since you landed," Sam offered, carefully welding a fracture in Bee's leg.

*Drift. Report to Ratchet immeditaly.* A familiar cool voice came over the comm.

"So Prowl is here too," the warrior said as he turned to go.

*Yes,* Bee responded, *There were only a few of us here at first. But more come every year, especially now that the humans are sending out the retrieval scouts and bringing the stranded home.*

"Hey have fun getting poked by Ratchet," the human called from repairing a leaking energon line. "We'll give you bots a proper welcome to Earth party after all the debriefings."

Drift felt something twist uneasily in his spark as he walked away. First Optimus Prime and now Bumblebee had called this planet home. The scattered Autobot troops were gathering here and they didn't look like they were planning on leaving. Even among the few he had seen there had been a near palpable sense of contentment, of connection with their human friends. There was nothing particularly wrong with that, other than it implied that they had given up on Cybertron, and the warrior could not think of anything that would have made the Prime do that.

"Ah Drift, good, sit," Ratchet gave a quick jerk of his head to indicate the berth in question.

"Don't let his gruffness fool you. He's as happy to see you all as the rest of us. I just think it'd blow a few microchips if he admitted it," Doctor Lennox said with a chuckle. She strolled easily along a catwalk that allowed her access to whoever was on the berth.

"So lie back and let us sciency types make sure you're on the road to recovery."

The Autobot resigned himself to the exam and patiently waited for it to conclude. Each of his unit came in turn and submitted to the prodding from the doctors. Finally Optimus himself called a halt to the research, declaring that the bots all needed their rest. General Lennox strode up and addressed the assembled bots.

"You are all welcome to begin exploring the planet or take a little R&R here at our Nevada N.E.S.T. base. We only ask that for the first few weeks you stick with a current N.E.S.T. member to avoid any cultural issues. Also," he paused and glanced around, "as I am sure you have already been briefed on there is still a significant Decepticon presence on this planet. The general rule is that all operatives go out in pairs. No exceptions. The Cons love to catch one of us alone, and the results are never good." There was a grim note to his voice as he ended. "Dismissed."

Drift watched the humans and Autobots disperse around him and signaled Kup and Optimus that he wished to have a privet word with both of them. The three mechs gathered in the far corner of the bay.

"What's up Drift?" Kup demanded bluntly.

"It concerns Ironhide," the red and white mech said softly.

"Huh, where is the old trigger happy cannon blaster?" Kup asked. "I haven't seen him since we got here." He looked over at Optimus and felt his spark lurch. The look in his leaders optics was like nothing he'd ever seen. Kuo had watched the last of the Primes grieve far too many times but this was different. Emotions far too deep to be described flowed behind the glowing topaz optics.

"Doctor Lennox informed me he had offlined but suggested I seek you out for the details," Drift continued.

"Yes, she was close to him," Optimus murmured. "I remember she was devastated when he passed. She was only a child then."

"How many cons did he take with him?" Kup demanded roughly.

Optimus looked at him and again Kup got the feeling that he really didn't want to hear what came next.

"Over two decacycles ago, he was betrayed by one of our own," the pain in his voice was palpable, as fresh as it had been the day he'd got the call.

Shock registered across the faces of the two listeners. Kup's optics dilated, shuttered, and dilated again.

"Who?" he snarled, "Who would dare?"

Optimus paused again and then said firmly.

"Sentential Prime."

There was dead silence from the other two Autobots, disbelief warred with the knowledge that their Prime never lied. Optimus gathered the data from his memory banks with the skill and speed of the librarian he had been so long ago. He compiled it into a data burst containing all the pertinent information; the discovery of the Ark, reviving the other Prime, the betrayal, Sentinel's defeat. The others stood still as they absorbed it. Finally Drift nodded curtly and left the two alone. He hadn't personally known the previous Prime. But Sentential had trained Kup as well as Optimus. He had however known Ironhide well.

Even as paranoid as the old soldier had been he had been among the first to full trust Drift once he had joined the Autobots. No wonder the humans had avoided the subject. The red and white mech sought out Doctor Lennox. Some pain could be ignored or worked around, some was best handled in with backup.


	14. Family

Rescue 14

Family

A Transformers Movieverse Fanfiction

The General gave a short nod to Optimus and walked over to where Drift was chatting with Doctor Lennox.

"Doctor. Ready to go home?" He asked with a warm smile.

"Absolutely General," she replied with equal warmth. "Will Sunny and Sides be giving us a ride?"

The man flinched slightly but kept smiling as he answered.

"That's the plan. We're supposed to meet up with them and Captain Epps out in the north lot."

"Where have they been anyway?" the younger woman asked as she gathered up her things. "The quiet around here is starting to get creepy."

"They took Epps out to the test range to try out the newest body armor."

The woman snapped her head up with a sharp intake of breath. There was a sparkle in the General's eyes as he continued.

"But not to worry, Prowl is observing, so things won't get out of hand."

"Dad! You're mean." She protested.

"Ah ah, until we ditch these monkey suits it's General Lennox to you, Doctor," he reminded her, but he was laughing as he said it.

"Doctor Lennox, General," Drift addressed the two humans, who turned to look at him.

"Yes?" the younger woman asked.

"If it is not too much of an imposition I was wondering if you would grant me the honor of accompanying you home?" the red and white mech asked. "I am eager to learn more about this planet and from what I have heard your family has some experience with Autobots."

Annabelle Lennox shot her father an eager glance. He gave an almost imperceptible smile and nod in return.

"We would be glad to have you," the woman said warmly.

The mech smiled in return and they began to discuss the thousand little things that Cybertronian newcomers always seemed to be curious about.

"You two head out to meet Epps and the Lambo twins. I have to have a word with Optimus before we leave," the older Lennox said.

"Yes Sir General," she waved and led Drift off in the direction of the north lot.

Will Lennox smiled and jogged over to the leader of the Autobots.

"Optimus."

"Yes General?"

"Could I have a private word with you?" Will asked.

The Autobot nodded and transformed. The general climbed up into his cab and the semi rolled slowly toward the hanger doors.

"I need the low down on this Drift character," the human said. "Annie's invited him home."

"That is good. Drift is a fine warrior and a loyal Autobot," Optimus said.

"Yeah, Ironhide mentioned him a time or two back in the day," Will said a bit dismissively. "But I need something to tell Sarah and Moe."

Optimus would have smiled if he'd been in protoform. The trust that this human granted him never ceased to amaze the mech. He still accepted new Autobots on Optimus's word alone, even after what had happened. The Prime weighted his words carefully. He knew what the human was asking.

"In addition to being a capable warrior Drift is the epitome of self control and discipline. He has in the past demonstrated a willingness to connect with organic life greater than almost any other of my warriors. You can tell both of the grandmothers that they need not fear him being a bad influence on their little ones."

The human nodded and smiled.

"Thanks big guy."

"You are always welcome," Optimus said. "We are here."

Lennox looked out across the near empty parking lot. Under the glow of a weak street lamp two Lamborghinis were racing around a Firebird while calling out taunting remarks to the laughter of two humans.

"She had a hard time this mission," the general said softly. "She lost too many good men. They both did."

"Indeed," Optimus replied.

Will had seen the eagerness in her eyes when she talked about the newest Autobots. Every warrior that was brought to earth increased the odds against the Decepticons and meant another Cybertronian had been brought home. But he had seen pain under that eagerness. A pain he knew too well. He jumped out of the cab and walked up to the laughing group. Epps nodded to him and leapt into Sideswipe's open door. Will climbed into Sunstreaker with a sigh.

"Don't worry boss man! This time I'll pay strict attention to the speed limits," the mech assured him.

Lennox gritted his teeth. He always missed Ironhide, but especially on these drives home.

The door to the firebird opened with a graceful flourish as Annabelle approached it.

"Doctor Lennox, would you do me the honor?" Drift asked.

The woman smiled. The twins usually either reached out and yanked her in or told her exactly where she should sit. This courtesy was a pleasant surprise.

"Why thank you Drift but the honor is mine, and please, when I'm off duty, it's Annabelle."

"Very well Annabelle."

The red and white sports car gently wrapped its seatbelts around her and started his engine. It rolled after the twins. The exit of the lot was guarded by a pair of gate posts that were just a little taller than regulation but otherwise unremarkable. As the first car approached the air between them became charged with electricity. A faint blue flicker ran between them before exploding out into a starburst. Just as Sideswipe streaked through the starburst settled down into a swirling blue portal. Sunstreaker followed and then Drift.

On the other side they pulled onto a winding two land highway. The single moon shone through the tall trees casting silver shadows across the cracked asphalt. Crystallized water, snow he recalled, covered the ground. Drift followed the twins as they rolled easily around each curve. He wondered idly why the youngsters seemed content to go so slow. Organic creatures flickered on and off his sensors beside the road. Ahead lights glowed warmly.

Atop a hill a cluster of buildings surrounded several tall structures known as windmills. The largest building, sheathed with red metal, was lit up with hundreds of little multi colored lights. It was surrounded by several automobiles of large sturdy designs. The Autobot could sense many organic and a few Cybertronian life signs in the structure.

Two massive doors rolled open as the lead car approached. Sideswipe transformed, lightly tossing Epps onto his shoulder, and strode into the barn waving and calling out to the gathered humans. Sunstreaker let the general out before transforming. Drift pulled in and opened the driver's door for Annabelle. She was immediately swept up into the arms of a cluster of women. The warrior sat in his alt mode for a moment watching the chaos that rolled around him. The majority the humans were female and displayed the same dark skin Captain Epps did. A flock of human sparklings, children, had swarmed Sideswipe and were clambering up him to get to Epps, squealing that their uncles were finally home.

"Annie!"

"Mom!" Annabelle ran forward to embrace an older woman.

"Drift, this is my mother Sarah Lennox. Mom, Drift." The younger woman introduced them.

"A pleasure, Mrs. Lennox," the Autobot said.

"Please call me Sarah," the human smiled at him, "and welcome to our home."

"Okay, food's on the tables, find what you want and dig in," a powerful voice called.

"And this is Monique and Robert Epps," Annabelle continued the introductions as the speaker walked up with a man about the General's age.

There was a sudden loud noise from the far end of the structure. Sunstreaker had knocked over a stack of canisters. The attention of all the mature humans was diverted for a moment. Drift suddenly realized he was surrounded. The smaller humans had begun to scamper up his frame chattering softly. Two or three modified turbo foxes darted in and out around their feet.

"You're the new Autobot?"

"Wow! He has three swords!"

"I bet he can go real fast!"

Drift stood stock still for fear of hurting the little ones. They chattered away, not seeming to notice or care that he wasn't answering their questions.

"Whoa! Kiddoes, rule number five, rule number five!" Captain Fred Epps shouted.

"Awww! No fair," came a protest from somewhere around Drift's back.

"Recite!" Fred insisted.

"Protesting loudly the swarm scrambled down. The largest of the small ones stood tall and stated loudly.

"Rule number five; Autobots are not jungle gyms."

"And you'd better remember that," he growled playfully scooping one of the little females up and tickling her until she giggled.

"Help mommy! Uncle Freddie is gonna eat me!"

"Well make sure he uses plenty of salsa!" one of the older females replied laughing.

Another round of introductions followed. Drift carefully stored each of the names and relationships in a special file. It appeared that the gathering consisted of the two commanders of the first human combat unit to encounter the Decepticons their mates and two generations of offspring. Both the doctor and the captain were greeted eagerly by their relatives. The smaller humans produced the modified turbo foxes and introduced them as Nightshade, Dash, and Rex along with a host of organic pets.

Sideswipe and Sunstreaker were playing with the children; telling stories of Cybertron before the war. Drift sat cross-legged listening to the conversation flowing back and forth between the adults. Home. He wasn't ready to accept this as his home yet; wasn't ready to give up on Cybertron. But when one of the children fell asleep in his lap with the turbo fox curled protectively around her, it occurred to the warrior that perspectives can change.


End file.
